As Shen Feng pondered, the sun had unknowingly climbed to its highest point. Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light behind Oscar shone straight into his eyes.
"What an opportunity!"
Just as Shen Feng raised a hand to shield his eyes from the unidentified light, Oscar charged toward him at lightning speed, splashing through the water like a ferocious leopard.
Shen Feng paused for a moment. "You little rascal. So you know how to play dirty."
Only then did Shen Feng realize what the light source was: a neat row of bullets.
The sun had risen to just the right angle, and its rays had reflected off the orange-yellow bullet casings.
Oscar had chosen the location for their sparring match. He had arrived early that morning and waited in position for Shen Feng.
When Shen Feng arrived, he had no choice but to stand opposite him. He'd assumed Oscar had set out the bullets because he planned to practice shooting after their match, so he hadn't paid them any attention.
He really hadn't expected honest, dependable Oscar to learn how to play dirty.
"Xiao Feng, they say all's fair in war!"
As he spoke, Oscar, already in front of Shen Feng, thrust out his right hand. His four fingers were like blades as he viciously jabbed at Shen Feng's abdomen.
The corners of Shen Feng's mouth lifted slightly. Oscar's attack had plenty of power, and his timing was excellent. Even a two-ring Battle Soul Master might not have been able to dodge it and would have had to take the hit head-on.
But Shen Feng was different. He had helped Oscar hone almost everything he knew.
In other words, they'd learned from the same master. Oscar's moves couldn't catch him off guard.
Shen Feng abruptly sucked in his stomach to create some distance, then thrust out both hands and struck toward Oscar's head with the force of a thunderbolt.
Neither of them held back. Their moves were swift and vicious; if either landed cleanly, the injuries would be severe enough that anyone without a healing-type Soul Master would absolutely be unable to get back up.
Anyone who didn't know them might have thought they harbored a deep grudge against each other.
But the more sweat you shed in training, the less blood you shed in battle. The more blood you shed in training, the less likely you are to lose your life when it counts.
Injuries sustained during training could be treated right away. Injuries sustained in battle, on the other hand, usually meant waiting to die.
This vicious style of fighting was Oscar's own suggestion. He refused to be a burden who could only stand behind his teammates. He'd always refused.
Feeling the wind of a strike rush past his ear, Oscar instinctively crouched and straightened his right leg. It swept toward Shen Feng's legs like a steel whip.
Smack—
A crisp slap rang out. His attack missed, and a flash of lightning erupted beneath Shen Feng's feet. He quickly leapt backward, dodging Oscar's sweeping kick.
Oscar's heart tightened. This is bad.
He'd only managed to gain a slight advantage thanks to his little trick. If Shen Feng pulled away and regrouped, Oscar would undoubtedly lose this match.
"Rasengan!"
Grimacing, Oscar suddenly made his right hand ring with a low hum. A rapidly spinning pink sphere of Soul Power took shape in his palm.
At the same time, his left hand blazed with light. He slammed it against the water, making the river cave inward and sending spray flying. Oscar used the tremendous recoil to launch himself straight at Shen Feng.
A smile appeared on Shen Feng's face. "Bring it on!"
"Palm Thunder!"
A blinding purple-black light flared in Shen Feng's palm, crackling with lightning and radiating even greater power.
"Xiao Feng, let's settle this!"
"Double Rasengan!"
The next moment, Oscar suddenly increased his Soul Power output. The pink sphere in his hand swelled dozens of times over, becoming a giant orb more than a meter in diameter.
Threads of Soul Power crisscrossed over its surface like the woven strands of a rattan ball. They sliced through the surrounding air at incredible speed, making a soft whirring sound.
"Haha, I've got a new move, too!"
"Chidori!"
Shen Feng brought his fingers together. The lightning surging from his Palm Thunder suddenly compressed, clinging tightly to his hand until it formed a purple-black blade of crackling lightning, about twenty centimeters long.
Sss—
Like a hot knife through butter, Shen Feng thrust his hand straight into the Rasengan Oscar had formed.
Its internal balance broke, and the Rasengan immediately dispersed. Shen Feng's joined fingers stopped at Oscar's throat.
"Xiao Ao, that's your 137th loss."
Oscar sighed. All the strength drained from his body, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.
"Still not enough. I tried every trick and used everything I had, but I still can't beat you."
"Does a support-type Soul Master have to stay behind their teammates and support them? Even with a Self-Created Soul Skill, can't I close the gap between support Soul Masters and Battle Soul Masters?"
Shen Feng shook his head slightly. "Xiao Ao, it's not that you can't close the gap. You've just picked the wrong opponent."
"An ordinary Soul Grandmaster only has two Soul Skills. Even if their physical abilities are somewhat better than a support-type Soul Master's, the difference is limited."
"But your Self-Created Soul Skills, Rasengan and Collapse Fist, are no weaker than the Soul Skills of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster. And as a support-type Soul Master, you also have two support Soul Skills of your own."
"You can fight and heal. If you fought other Soul Grandmasters, I think you'd definitely win, and you'd have a pretty good chance of it."
A glimmer of hope appeared in Oscar's eyes. "Really? You're not lying to me?"
Shen Feng smiled and nodded. "Of course I'm not."
"Besides, the academy's holding admissions tomorrow. If any students who reach the fourth round show up, how about using them to test your skills?"
Oscar froze, then curled his lip. "What fourth-round students?"
"I came to the academy when my Martial Soul awakened at six. It's been five years, and aside from you, who got in through special recruitment, not a single person has even made it to the third round. And you're talking about the fourth?"
"How hard is it to find a two-ring Soul Grandmaster under thirteen? They also need the optimal Soul Ring configuration, suitable Soul Skills, and outstanding combat ability or awareness."
"Yeah, right. Those conditions are so outrageous that we'd be lucky to recruit anyone at all."
Shen Feng tilted his head toward the sky, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Trust me. We'll definitely get qualified students this year."
Early the next morning, Shen Feng and Oscar got up, washed, and headed to the cafeteria together.
There weren't many intact buildings at Shrek Academy. Since Shen Feng also needed to discuss martial techniques and Self-Created Soul Skills with Oscar often, he'd simply moved in with him.
Oscar's Self-Created Soul Skills, Rasengan and Collapse Fist, and Shen Feng's Palm Thunder and Explosive Step—the move he'd used to dodge Oscar's attack the day before—were all products of their work over the past three years.
Oscar had created Rasengan by adapting Shen Feng's Palm Thunder. Collapse Fist and Explosive Step were small burst techniques he'd developed based on how firearms worked, using his exceptional control over Soul Power.
They might have been called small tricks, but their power naturally varied from person to person.
In Shen Feng and Oscar's hands, for instance, they were more than capable of splitting rocks and shattering cliffs.
They owed it all to their precise control over their own Soul Power. That let them unleash it without damaging their own meridians.
They could then fire Soul Power from the acupoints in their bodies like bullets, inflicting tremendous damage on enemies at close range.
These techniques worked best in close combat, paired with punches, kicks, and other hand-to-hand martial arts.
So Oscar, whose Martial Soul had no offensive abilities, focused on Cannon Fist, while Shen Feng, whose Martial Soul was the Leiming Blade, focused on Explosive Step.
"Xiao Feng, do you really think anyone will make it to the fourth round today?"
"With such ridiculous admission requirements, I think there's an eighty percent chance we'll end up wasting our time again, just like the past few years."
Oscar held a bun in one hand and a large bowl in the other. He took a bite of the bun, then gulped down a mouthful of soup. Strangely enough, it didn't affect his speech at all.
Shen Feng stuffed the half-bun in his hand into his mouth, chewed it a few times, swallowed, then reached for another.
"Don't worry. Someone will definitely show up. You and I meet all those requirements, don't we?"
Oscar fixed his gaze on the last bun on the table and shot out a hand. "That's different. We're both born with Innate Full Soul Power."
"Even so, I needed over nine years to reach level twenty, despite using the cultivation method you came up with to speed up my progress."
"For other people, reaching level twenty before they're thirteen would be impossible unless they had at least level five innate Soul Power."
"How could a gifted kid with level five or higher innate Soul Power possibly come to a poor little village like ours to study?"
Shen Feng's eyes sharpened as he blocked Oscar's outstretched hand. "You can say what you want, but I won't let you steal my bun. The last one's mine."
"But you do have a point. The world is huge. There are always people who end up here for all sorts of strange reasons."
"Like you. And like me."
Oscar nodded, but his hand kept moving. The two of them continued fighting over that last bun across the tiny space between them. It was both horseplay and part of their everyday training.
Every moment of their lives—walking, sitting, or lying down—was spent striving to improve.
"True. There are oddballs every year. Shrek Academy is full of oddballs, and anyone who comes here to study is an even bigger oddball."
"Cough, cough, cough."
Suddenly, a series of coughs sounded behind them.
Oscar turned around stiffly. Flender stood at the entrance with several of the academy's teachers.
"If you don't want to eat, then stop. You two can't even keep your mouths shut over a meal. Don't you know how busy we'll be today?"
While Oscar was distracted, Shen Feng swiftly snatched the last bun and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Morning, Headmaster! Xiao Ao and I are done eating. We'll go get ready for admissions!"
With that, Shen Feng couldn't be bothered to listen to Flender nag. He grabbed Oscar and dragged him out of the cafeteria.
Watching them leave, Flender looked thoroughly vexed. "You little brats eat my food, learn from me, live in my place, and then talk behind my back?"
Zhao Wuji patted Flender on the shoulder. "Give it a rest, Fu Laoda. Stop embarrassing yourself here."
"The food they eat is all stuff they brought back themselves. Most of what they've learned is Xiao Feng's own Self-Created Soul Skills. They're just living in one of your shabby wooden shacks, and they even gave you ideas that helped you earn a pile of Gold Soul Coins."
"Tell me, could teaching get any easier than this? And you're still not satisfied?"
Flender was speechless. "I—I just haven't found the joy of being a teacher yet. What did I do wrong?"
"If anyone's to blame, it's Xiao Feng for being too outstanding and taking away my one and only joy in teaching."
Zhao Wuji gave him a sidelong glance. "You mean the joy of lecturing people."
Flender's expression changed. "Zhao Wuji, I see you're itching for a beating again. Take this Eagle Claw Technique!"
"Like I'm afraid of you! Take this—Mad Bear Holding Up the Sky!"
The next moment, several of the teachers, including Shen Rui and Ling Na, burst into laughter.
It was this relaxed, carefree environment, free of scheming and infighting, that had truly brought them all together.
Life was a little hard, but no one held them back, and they were free to do as they pleased.
By eight or nine in the morning, the tables and chairs for admissions had been set up at the entrance to the Shrek Academy village.
Seven sets of tables and chairs stood in a row. Each had a nameplate for one of Shrek Academy's teachers, along with the types of Soul Masters they specialized in.
Flender's nameplate sat on the table in the very center.
It read: Name: Flender
Titles: Shrek Academy Headmaster, Business Genius, Voice of Wisdom, and so on.
Specialties: Beast Martial Soul, Agility-Strength Soul Master, business, answering questions, teaching, and so on.
His was the only one with so much detail. The others listed only their names and the types of Soul Masters they specialized in.
Directly in front of the tables and chairs, in the most conspicuous spot, stood a temporary sign covered in writing.
At that moment, more than a hundred early-arriving Soul Masters had gathered around it, studying the contents line by line.
"Applicants over thirteen years old who have not reached level twenty-one will not be accepted."
"Applicants whose first two Soul Rings are not Hundred-Year Soul Rings, or whose first two Soul Skills are poorly matched, will not be accepted."
"The application fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. It is nonrefundable once submitted, but those who are not accepted may ask an admissions teacher one question about cultivating as a Soul Master."
"Good grief, this shabby academy has such outrageous admission requirements?"
"Are they recruiting students or just trying to scam us? Should we go to Suotuo City and report them to the City Lord?"
"First time here?" A man in his thirties suddenly interjected. "Don't you know this academy is backed by both the City Lord's estate in Suotuo City and the Spirit Hall in Suotuo City?"
"Besides, how many people who come here are actually hoping to get in?"
The man looked around in confusion. Only then did he realize there were hardly any children of twelve or thirteen nearby. Most were over twenty.
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